Find Chelsea’s strong start more concerning than our poor one, in an odd way. The renaissance of Hazard, Costa, Pedro etc. raises questions. On one hand, it’s a core of title winners put together by Jose, who he got some great performances out of. On the other hand, it’s incredible how he mismanaged them to the extent that they were turning out such abject performances, especially when the captain was clearly 100% behind him.
Ours are a lot who aren’t new to turning out half-arsed performances. It’s been consistent under three managers. Jose hasn’t been much better at inspiring them, but maybe there really are some bad eggs in there. Performance wise, on average it’s much better than under LVG, with more risks taken and consequently a higher rate of howlers. Had we won the Burnley and Stoke games, we might just be sitting a few points off the top by the end of today, after Fergie like attacking sieges. Instead we missed a glut of chances and are practically out of the race.
I think Mourinho will get it right when the new backbone of players he brought in settles down, and he weeds out those with a weak mentality, but last season at Chelsea suggests it’s possible for him to do demotivate rather than motivate.
